In recent years, there has been a proliferation of configurable integrated circuits (IC's). Configurable IC's include configurable circuits, such as configurable logic circuits and configurable interconnect circuits. A configurable circuit typically receives configuration data that “configures” the circuit to perform an operation in a set of operations that it can perform.
In a configurable IC, configuration data is typically stored in memory cells. These memory cells are often arranged in a shallow memory structure (such as one row of disjointed cells). In other words, deeper memory structures (e.g., memory arrays) are typically not used for the memory cells that store configuration data. This is because such memory cells need to continuously output configuration data that they store. However, it is difficult to wire memory cells inside a memory array with the lines that are needed for outputting the stored configuration data, because memory arrays are often already congested with word lines and bit lines for performing read and write operations.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a memory structure that will allow configuration data to be stored in memory arrays, which continuously output stored configuration data.